Remember the ruling by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding the Telephone Consumer Protect Act (TCPA) last year? If you are in the telemarketing business or are looking to carve your path in the industry soon, now would be the time to listen up. This law – which became effective in April 2013 – could have a huge impact on your outbound sales campaign, how you engage with your customers and prospects, and ultimately, your overall profit.
Since this was executed, companies everywhere began scrambling to understand what this would mean for them. As such, let’s take a look at the basics of how this new rule could affect your business.
What will this new rule entail?
Essentially, this new rule mandates that a written consent be in place before initiating prerecorded telemarketing. This means that consumers must consent in writing that they fully approve of receiving prerecorded calls by or on behalf of a seller. Not only this, but automated opt-outs are now mandatory much easier to access, and text messaging is included within these rigorous requirements.
How will it impact my telemarketing campaign?
Now here’s where you need to pay very close attention. This new rule is also poised to define the use of one of telemarketers’ most vital tools – the predictive dialer. Apparently, these new systems will be blocked from completing calls without this customer consent; however, this doesn’t apply to auto or predictive dialer equipment for use on residential lines.
What do I have to do to comply?
If your predictive dialer places live-agent sales calls and if your equipment abandons some calls, you will have to modify your system so that your recorded message includes an automated opt-out option.
